Upsets were not in the cards on Saturday as No. 1 Long Beach State, No. 5 Loyola Chicago, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 Lewis and No. 10 Penn State all picked up sweeps. With the wins, Long Beach State extended its season opening win streak to 12 matches and No. 8 Lewis earned its eighth straight victory.
#10 Penn State def. #15 Saint Francis 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-20)
- Penn State moves to 6-2, 1-0 EIVA; Saint Francis falls to 5-8, 0-1 EIVA
- Loretto, Pennsylvania
- Box Score
- Penn State Recap / Saint Francis Recap
Key Stats: Penn State bested Saint Francis in every statistical category for a quick 90 minute road victory on Saturday to kick of EIVA play. The Nittany Lions outhit the Red Flash .275 to .147 and outdid them in kills (39-31), aces (7-3) and blocks (8-6).
Stat Leaders: Redshirt junior outside Matthew McLaren notched 12 kills, while hitting at a .500 clip and notching three aces to pace the Nittany Lions. Redshirt senior middle Kevin Gear and redshirt senior opposite Jalen Penrose followed with nine putaways apiece and redshirt senior outside Aidan Albrecht chipped in six. Gear hit at a team-high .600 clip with no errors in 15 swings, while also putting up a team-best four blocks. Royce Clemens pulled up 17 digs.
Redshirt senior outside Stephen Braswell downed 12 kills for Saint Francis and was one of three Red Flash players with an ace. Senior outside Brandon Buck followed with eight kills on a team-high .318 effort and an ace. Senior middle Keith Kegerreis added four kills and a team-high four blocks.
It Was Over When: Penn State led by as many as six in Set 3 at 15-8 with help from two blocks and a kill by Gear and five SFU miscues. Five players notched kills in the first half of the set. The stanza was far from over, however, as the Red Flash chipped away, eventually knotting the score at 19. Two kills and two blocks by Kegerreis cut the margin to one at 15-14 and two kills and a block by Braswell brought the Red Flash even. From there, however, it was nearly all Nittany Lions as PSU closed out the match on a 6-1 run, including four McLaren putaways. A Saint Francis hitting error account for the final point.
#5 Loyola Chicago def. Lindenwood (RV) 3-0 (25-20 29-27, 25-17)
- Loyola moves to 9-2, 2-0 MIVA; Lindenwood falls to 6-5, 1-3 MIVA
- Chicago, Illinois
- Box Score
- Lindenwood Recap / Loyola Recap
Key Stats: Loyola overcame a 13-8 deficit in blocks with a strong hitting effort in a sweep of Lindenwood. The Ramblers hit .250 or better in two of the three sets, including a .348 effort in Set 1, while besting the Lions 40-33 in kills and 4-1 in aces. Lindenwood hit .295 in Set 2, but struggled in the other two sets, hitting just .111 in the match.
Stat Leaders: Junior outside Collin Mahan led a group of five Rambler hitters with five of more kills. Mahan downed 12 kills at a .304 clip, while adding six digs. Junior outside Will Tischler and senior middle Jeff Jendryk followed with eight kills apiece, while junior middle Paul Narup (6) and senior opposite Ricky Gevis (5) rounded out the group. Jendryk hit at a team-best .667 clip with 12 errorless swings. Narup and Gevis put up four blocks apiece to lead Loyola at the net.
Sophomore outside Michael Jennings guided the Lindenwood effort with 14 kills and six blocks. Junior middle Connor Hipelius added nine putaways and a team-high seven blocks. Senior outside Nathan Van Dellen chipped in six stuffs, four kills and the team’s lone ace.
It Was Over When: Lindenwood scored the first two points of Set 3, but after that it was never in doubt for the host Ramblers, which responded with a 7-1 run, including three Lion errors. Two Jendryk kills and two by Narup upped the point margin to six at 14-8. Down 18-11, Lindenwood rallied to within five twice, last at 20-15, with help from three Jennings putaways. Loyola scored five of the final seven, including three Lion errors.
#8 Lewis def. Quincy 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16)
- Lewis moves to 8-3, 2-0 MIVA; Quincy falls to 8-5, 0-3 MIVA
- Romeoville, Illinois
- Box Score
- Quincy Recap / Lewis Recap
Key Stats: A season-best 12 aces and an efficient .400 hitting effort lifted No. 8 Lewis past Quincy, giving the Flyers their eighth straight victory. The Flyers were dominant from the service line from the start, including five perfect serves in the opening stanza, en route to a 12-4 edge in aces. Lewis also boasted a 9.5 to 1 advantage in blocks, which helped hold the Hawks to a .108 hitting effort.
Stat Leaders: Fifteen Lewis players saw action in the match with 11 posting kills. Redshirt junior opposite Mitch Perinar and redshirt freshman middle TJ Murray downed a team-high five kills apiece, each with errorless efforts. Junior setter Matt Yoshimoto, sophomore outside Kyle Bugee and redshirt junior Jake Walenga notched three kills each. Redshirt junior outside Julian Moses put up four blocks in just one set of action, while Yoshimoto and Murray turned in three blocks apiece. Yoshimoto also served up four aces, while Bugee added five.
Senior outside Anthony Winter and sophomore outside Omari Wheeler registered six kills each to pace the Quincy attack. Senior middle Shane McAdams (5), freshman middle Zach Reider (4) and sophomore middle Blake Sprecher (4) followed. Winter served up two of the team’s four aces, but could not find his footing offensively, hitting -.083 with eight errors to go with his six kills. Sprecher tallied the team’s lone block, a solo effort.
It Was Over When: Lewis broke Set 3 open with an 8-1 run, turning a 6-all tie into a 14-7 advantage. Danny Maurer chalked up two kills, two blocks and an ace in the rally. Quincy scored three straight to cut the margin to four at 17-13, but could not break through. The teams split the next six points leading to a 20-16 score. The Flyers removed any doubt with a final 5-0 run, including a kill and a block by Moses and two Hawk errors.
#7 Ohio State def. #12 Fort Wayne 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-14)
- Ohio State moves to 9-2; Fort Wayne falls to 9-2
- Columbus, Ohio
- Box Score
- Fort Wayne Recap / Ohio State Recap
Key Stats: Ohio State doubled up on Fort Wayne in kills (42-20) and served up eight aces in the sweep. The Buckeyes hit at a .275 clip, recovering after hitting just .143 in the opening stanza, and limited the Mastodons to a .041 effort on the night. Fort Wayne won the block 7-3.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt freshman opposite Jake Hanes led all hitters with 14 kills to go with four digs and three aces. Senior outside Maxime Hervoir tacked on 11 kills and eight digs. Senior outside Nicolas Szerszen notched a match-high 11 digs, five kills and two aces, but hit .000 for the night.
Sophomore outside Peligrin Vargas managed eight kills and five digs to lead the Mastodons. Redshirt junior outside Colton Stone added six kills, but also committed seven errors for a -.053 hitting effort. Sophomore middle Richie Diedrich put up a team-best four blocks and served up 0ne of the team’s two aces alongside Stone.
It Was Over When: Ohio State broke Set 3 wide open with a 9-2 run, turning an early 6-5 lead into a 15-7 margin. Three Hanes putaways and three Mastodon miscues aided the Buckeye rally. Fort Wayne cut the margin to six at 17-11 with back-to-back OSU miscues, but the Buckeyes rebounded with seven of the next eight points to make it 24-12. Three kills and an ace by Hanes led the way for Ohio State. A service error and a block by Diedrich and Gergwig kept the Mastodons alive in the set, but a service error capped the 25-14 Buckeye victory and the sweep.
#1 Long Beach State def. #20 George Mason 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-19)
- Long Beach State moves to 12-0; George Mason falls to 4-7
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Box Score
- Long Beach State Recap / George Mason Recap
Key Stats: The 49ers hit .500 or better in all three sets in a sweep to extend their season-opening win streak to 12 matches. LBSU hit .577 on the night, including a .652 effort in Set 2, while holding George Mason to a .154 effort. Long Beach State outblocked the Patriots 5-2 and bested GMU 47-27 in kills, but were outserved 6-4.
Stat Leaders: Junior opposite Kyle Ensing and junior outside TJ DeFalco carried the offensive load for the 49ers, but three other players notched six or more putaways, each hitting .400 or better on the night. Ensing turned in 12 kills and three blocks, while hitting at a .611 clip. DeFalco tallied 11 kills, while hitting .500 and adding three aces. Senior outside Bjarne Huus downed eight kills, while freshman middle Simon Anderson starred with seven kills on a perfect 1.000 hitting effort. Redshirt junior middle Nick Amado rounded out the offense with six kills and a team-high three blocks.
Sophomore opposite Hayden Wagner put down eight kills to lead the Patriots, but hit -.056 in the match with nine errors. Sophomore outside Sam Greenslade (6), redshirt junior middle Langston Payne (5) and junior outside Kyle Barnes (5) also contributed to the GMU offensive attack. Payne hit at a team-best .556 clip with no errors in nine swings, while also putting up at a team-high two blocks. Greenslade chipped in three aces in adding to his six-kill tally.
It Was Over When: Long Beach State broke off a 9-4 mid-set run in Set 3 to go up 21-15 after leading by just one at 12-11. Four players notched kills, including two by Huus, and the 49ers put up three blocks, including two by DeFalco in the stretch. The Patriots were within three at 21-18 after three straight Long Beach errors. LBSU called timeout and righted the ship with four of the final five points. A kill and a block by Ensing and a GMU error set up match point at 24-18. A Huus kill two points later sewed up the win, LBSU’s 11th sweep.
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